UFC 141 did big numbers on pay-per-view, according to an industry source.

Veteran reporter Dave Meltzer, who has a background in reporting on professional wrestling and has some links to pay-per-view companies as a result, often puts out numbers for UFC PPV sales and is generally considered to be accurate within around ten per cent either way.

He claims that UFC 141, which was headlined by Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem, did somewhere between 750,000 and 810,000 units. That would make it one of the biggest sellers since UFC 100 - which topped one million sales - and marks a good start for the UFC’s year.

While the numbers will be pleasing to the UFC accountants, the event itself was tinged with sadness for them as Lesnar was demolished in the first round by Overeem and announced his retirement immediately afterwards.

As he was the biggest pay per view star the UFC had, he presence will be missed on 2012 cards if he does indeed stay retired and was not just talking in the heat of the moment. The UFC hopes Overeem can be turned into a big seller like Lesnar, but whether he can achieve the same numbers is debatable.